


Doesn't Matter

by PolarGrizz47



Series: Darkness in the Light [6]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Guardian-killing, Murder, Sickness, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 06:36:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16362782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolarGrizz47/pseuds/PolarGrizz47
Summary: Adrian turned his head away from the sight of death, feeling no remorse.They deserved it. They all deserved it.





	Doesn't Matter

It took him a while to figure it out, but the Light was now making him ill. Adrian felt it worse and worse on Io, his visits to Asher were short and the Tower was strictly out of the question. Even getting too close to the Last City made him dizzy and nauseous. 

They had found out during a routine collection, mopping up the forest for any leftover Fallen. Drifter walked ahead of him, occasionally picking off still crawling Fallen with a massive bark of his hand cannon. While he walked, he chatted idly to pass the time. “See, the beauty of Gambit is getting other people to do the heavy lifting for us and for the bank,” He spun his weapon around his finger before flicking it open and reloading. “And when the right time comes, you know what’ll happen --”

His voice was punched out of him as a bullet passed through his middle, painting Adrian in his blood. The Hunter caught Drifter’s falling body with a keen eye at the trees, dragging the man with him into cover.

Drifter gasped once, twice and then died right then and there, a wild grin on his lips. His Ghost slowly circling him before they began to resurrect the Drifter. The man’s chest was stitched back up quickly, skin coming back together to repair the gory wound. Adrian watched closely, his eyes narrowed as he kept his wits about him. Drifter’s blood was cooling against his skin and he wrinkled his nose in distaste. 

The forest was silent, save for the screaming cry of a distant drell. 

Drifter came back to with a gasp and a cough, leftover blood from his death painting his lips before he wheezed out a laugh. “I didn’t know you cared,” He teased, sitting up some and patting at his chest. Adrian smacked him once at the back of his head, holding a void dagger in his other hand. 

“Shut up,” Evelyn said, her voice was cold. “This one is different.”

And they were right. 

The Guardian was skilled, invisible in the treeline. Caught Adrian in the side as they prowled, tussling like wild animals in the brush. Killed Drifter two more times, like they were mocking the man. Or, more likely, they were ordered to bring in the Drifter alive and were just buying time to deal with Adrian. 

It was seriously beginning to piss Drifter off. 

Adrian and Evelyn crouched into the bushes again, leaving a trail of red behind them, but Evelyn was not risking phasing out and healing her Hunter - just in case. Without Evelyn, Adrian wouldn’t make it out of this. No real way to channel the Void without his Ghost.

She wouldn’t take that risk, not after the Void realm taught her the fragility of their lives.

With narrowed green eyes, Adrian listened to the whisper of the Void and placed his fingertips to the soil. He could sense them near, their light sending a sheen of sweat to bud above his brow. 

_ Behind you, _ the Void whispered to him, teasingly caressing his thoughts with its corruption.

His fingers twitched around the purple pulsing blade in his hand and he breathed out evenly through his nose, letting the nerves drip out of him before he suddenly wheeled around with the blade poised in hand.

The curved edge of the dagger plunged into the other Guardian’s throat, sending out an arc of freshly sprayed blood. They coughed, wheezed and clawed at their throat with one hand as Adrian slammed them to the ground. Shoving a knee into the stranger’s chest to keep them still, Adrian twisted the Void dagger and watched as the blood glowed purple, pulsing and dripping. 

Adrian felt the weapon pressed against his middle, but he only silently bared his teeth down at their bloodied helmet. The trigger was pulled and he felt parts of himself eviscerating in a bloody blowback. He slumped a bit, chuckling out a mixture of blood and drool as he rolled to the side, a hand pressed to his mostly missing middle. 

He glanced frantically towards the unknown Guardian, finding them still and dead, blood coating the ground below their head. Adrian coughed roughly, blood coming up from between his lips as his own death sinks its temporary hand into him, squeezing at his heart. 

“I’m here,” Evelyn soothes, her voice kind but strained. Adrian floats in between awareness and unconsciousness, clinging tightly with weakening fingers. The Void’s whispers always grew louder in death, tempting him back into its welcoming, eternal embrace. 

_ Come home. Join the hunt once more. Why waste time with people who don't understand? _

But then Evelyn was washing him in a different darkness, blessing his body with the Void’s life-giving corruption and he gasped, sitting forwards and forcing himself away from the other Guardian’s own Ghost and body. They too sit up, covered in blood and staring right at him, gun in hand. Adrian pulls another Void dagger out of thin air and holds it between two fingers, ready to throw it.

Evelyn and the Ghost stare at each other, and the Ghost begins to speak, voice low and calm - “You’ve been corrupted. We can cleanse you --  _ save you  _ \--”

A fiery bullet cuts the Ghost in half, its body briefly suspended before it imploded, sending a wash of Light throughout the area. It tugs at Adrian’s clothes and gives him flashes of images from his previous life at the Tower before he’d been forgotten. Before the Void had saved him. 

_ Or had it doomed him? _

Evelyn’s eye flickers with static and she falls lifelessly towards the ground with the blast of light. 

On instinct, Adrian reaches out to catch her before she even touches the ground. The motion causes his belly to roll and clench as the leftover light works its way across his skin. He suddenly lurches, curling his back forwards in order to preserve some dignity as he vomits. It’s awful and watery, stings at the back of his throat and brings tears to his eyes. Through it all though, Adrian is shocked to see that his stomach wasn’t filled with his late lunch.

It was purple instead, glowing at the edges and refusing to sink into the soft soil of the forest. He can see his own reflection in it, like crystal glass. A closer look reveals that it isn't really  _ him _ , but just the glinting eyes of a Void beast,  _ waiting _ . 

There’s another wave of heat and a shot of a Golden Gun behind him, but he lurches again and braces himself, coughing up more of it with soundless sobs. It burns all through him, and he almost passes out again, his recently rebuilt middle was especially sensitive.

Clutching Evelyn in his human hand, he pulls her to his chest and braces himself with his crystalized arm. Purple drips from his lips and he spits out another mouthful, his gaze lingering on the edges of the strange liquid. 

He blinks the tears from his eyes and leans back onto his heels, still wheezing as a heavy hand falls atop his shoulder. Adrian jumps, already grabbing at a new blade, but Drifter’s voice fills his ears with a mixture of worry and fury.

“Easy there, hotshot. Asshole’s been taken care of and now we gotta get you cleaned up. Doubt they were alone,” He paused, looking over Adrian’s shoulder with a furrowed brow. “Are you alright? Evelyn --”

Adrian curls his hand tighter around her, protectively. He doesn’t move for a long moment, waiting until the ill feeling oozed out of him, leaving only a bad taste in his mouth and clean tear streaks through his previously bloodied face. 

Drifter watches him, helps drag him to his feet with a strong arm. He doesn’t know what to say, so he lets the subject drop for now. But Adrian can almost hear the other man’s thoughts clear as day.

Something was wrong.

They step by the body of the Guardian and Adrian glances at them, unable to help himself. Their body was charred, missing their head and left shoulder, the clothing burnt by the fury of Drifter’s Golden Gun. 

Despite his exhaustion and worry for his Ghost, Adrian notices that the Drifter’s golden gun left a  _ green _ flame instead of a brilliant orange one. As if Drifter had been changed by the Taken and Hive exposure throughout all the years. 

Adrian turned his head away from the sight of death, feeling no remorse. 

They deserved it. They all  _ deserved _ it.

Drifter was right. The Vanguard was poisoned by ideals, unable to see past their own bright light.

Cradling Evelyn close to his chest, Adrian dragged his feet all the way back to the Derelict, wondering what had just happened.

-:-

Evelyn awoke hours later with a start, flying right out of the nest Adrian had made her and buzzing around the room frantically until she saw her Hunter once more. She flew into his awaiting hand, scanning him over a few times with a frantic purple beam, checking for major damage. His temperature was colder than it should’ve been as if he’d been in the Void realm without her, but there seemed to be no awful injuries lingering from their battle.

“What happened? How long was I out?” She rushed out, her shell filled with static for a moment before she shook herself off. The spikes at the top of her shell flattened as Adrian blinked tired green eyes at her, his gaze glassy and unfocused.

Adrian shrugged, holding up three fingers with a worried frown. 

“Three hours… What -- did the  _ light _ from that Guardian --” She looked at Adrian closely, at how tired he looked and how pale he was. “You’re sick.”

He nodded lazily, flopping back onto his bed and letting his Void corrupted hand hang off the edge. The Hunter released her easily and she floated above him, taking in his form. He closed his eyes, listening to her hum above him, finding himself fully sink into his exhaustion now that he knew she was alright. 

With one hand wrapped around the blade he kept under his pillow, Adrian fell asleep with his back to the door. Evelyn was restless, floating throughout the room worriedly, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

All she could remember was a wash of light and then -- then nothing. Just the Void whispering.

Over and  _ over _ again.

Different tongues that she didn’t understand. Tongues that were old and long ago dead. Tongues that twisted her inside out. 

Unsettled, Evelyn stayed on lookout while Adrian slept deeply for the first time in weeks.

Drifter walked by the room a few times, pausing each time, trying to listen in. But all he heard was silence, even if his gut and his Ghost sensed a whole lot more brewing beneath the surface.

-:-

Adrian clicked his jaw closed as he walked onto Io. His whole body recoiled at the touch of light-blessed soil and bones beneath his boots. 

It wasn't as bad as it was whenever a Ghost perished, this light was old and fading, but it was still here. Not nearly as bad as it would’ve been before Ghaul invaded and drilled the place empty. 

Still, it pulled at him. The Void snarled inside his veins, snapping its jagged jaws at the light, eager to kill it.

To consume it.

With his head down and a long cloak to hide his crystallized arm, Adrian went to the only place on Io that he truly enjoyed lingering in. Asher’s workstation was empty, the old console was still standing on spindly legs and the electric nodes left a crackle in their unintended wake. 

He stood there for a long moment, taking it all in, trying to think back on all the years that had passed since he last had the pleasure of bothering Asher. 

It hadn’t been too long, had it?

Either Asher had ventured around Io or his transformation had sped up.

He circled the area, looking for clues, and looked towards the cursed engine that had transformed most of Io already. Evelyn circled his head as they walked the old, radiolarian infected ground all the way to the conversion engine. The ground became less and less natural as they went, strict geometric shapes carved their way into the soft green planet and eventually turned into a coppery color, metallic and odd. 

There, standing at the highest edge, was Asher.

Adrian prowled closer, making no sound as he did so. Asher had gotten worse, the Vex transformation was clearly crawling up his neck, nearly to his chin. Strangely, there were no Vex patrolling the outer perimeter. Adrian idly wondered if they were finally inviting Asher back into his doom.

He came to a stop behind Asher and slowly stepped up to stand beside him, arms crossed and eyes fixated on the locked gate. The scientist was silent, his gaze mournful. 

Finally, he turned his head somewhat, a simple inclination of his chin. “Adrian.” He greeted flatly and their eyes met, if only for a second. “You should know better than to show up on my planet whenever you deem fitting. They will find you.” Asher thinned his lips, his corrupted hand twitching in pain, “Ah… they already have, haven’t they? I’ve heard the reports.”

“Then you have no reason to be surprised,” Evelyn answered as she floated between their heads. Adrian clicked his crystalized fingers against the armor on his other arm, teeth clenched tightly. 

Asher looked back towards the gate, a hum breaking in his throat. “You are right. As much as it pains me to say it.”

“We came to ask a question,” Evelyn eventually said, when the sight of the empty gate became too boring to bear. “You look like shit, by the way.”

“Wonderful,” Asher quipped sourly, turning his head towards Adrian fully. “What is it you two want to bother me for now, huh?”

Adrian wanted to ask him about this light sickness. Wanted to ask him if they intended on sending more Guardians to their  _ deaths _ , hunting his trail. 

But instead, he closed his eyes with a finality and Evelyn seemed to pick up on the change of heart. Her voice was slow, careful even, “Did you remember walking here?”

The Scribe tensed, his flesh hand squeezing into a fist and his eyes narrowed. Why would they come all the way to Io to ask about him? It was a rouse, but still, it drew a response from the old man. He looked as if he wanted to lie, to defend his credibility, but as they stood there alone atop the implicit plunge, Asher realized that he had nothing to truly hide from a scorned ‘guardian.’

“No. I do not,” He sniffed, waving off the truth. The fact that he was losing himself more and more with each passing day was infuriating. How close would he get before snapping out of it next time, he wondered. “It doesn’t matter,” Asher snapped finally, both to shut out that horrifying thought and to ward off any further probing. 

A silence stretched between them then, Adrian staring straight ahead with glassy eyes and a dull expression. Asher knew that the man had to be sick, which was infinitely confusing, given their once-guardian standings. 

Before he could try and dig out some information from the two of them, Adrian turned away from him and began walking back. As if she could read Asher’s thoughts, Evelyn distantly whispered, “You’re right. It doesn’t matter.”

Asher expected them to still be lurking around when he finally made his way back to his station, but the duo was gone. Not even a note or a footprint betrayed their presence. The Scribe stood at his station and wondered why he felt a pang of disappointment. 

**Author's Note:**

> Struggled writing this one, but I'm happy that it's done.   
> I like the idea of Asher starting to become more and more influenced by the Vex, his mind slipping into their sort of connection. (I know Bungie wants to just kill him, but I feel like it would be even more tragic if he felt himself slipping into their general Mind, fighting the losing battle all the way there.)
> 
> Adrian sinks further and further into his unwitting deal with the devil.


End file.
